LiveXLive acquires Slacker Radio for $50 million

The online radio service Slacker Radio has been acquired by LiveXLive, a music streaming service focused on live music streaming, the company announced today. Slacker, which has been around since 2007, has radio stations curated by DJs (something Dash Radio does better), customizable radio stations based on your taste (something Pandora does better), and at one point sold portable music players (something Apple did better).

But you do get a free subscription to it if you buy a Tesla Model S or X, so that’s nice.

LiveXLive is — as the name says — focused on live music streaming, but the company hasn’t made a substantial impact in the streaming market yet, despite streaming performances by Rihanna, Katy Perry, Radiohead, Chance The Rapper, and Bruce Springsteen. The acquisition of Slacker Radio gives it an opportunity to increase its usage time beyond the nightly concert or festival stream, but the music streaming market isn’t exactly easy to break into, despite still being somewhat nascent.

LiveXLive also has a talent division led by popular social media celebrity Amanda Cerny, with contributors including King Bach and controversial YouTube star Jake Paul. All are tasked with creating short-form content for LiveXLive, which could help the platform diversify its offerings outside of music.

Acquiring an online streaming service is an ambitious move for a company that hasn’t caught on in the mainstream yet, and hasn’t turned a profit. The company, which was founded in 2015, lost $14.2 million in fiscal year 2016, on revenue of $225,000.

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